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Why I have beef with Raila Odinga- Mutahi Ngunyi

County_Nairobi
 Ngunyi emphasised that he had nothing against the Luo nation but that his beef was with Raila.

Controversial political scientist Mutahi’s Ngunyi whose infamous ‘POVERTY STRICKEN LUOs’ ethnic slur sent Nyanza residents huffing with fury found himself in unfamiliar territory when a tyranny of furious ‘twitterati’ descended on him with tweets and blows.

For a week, he held his ground: “YES. Statistics: 82 percent of people in BONDO live below poverty line.” But when Law Society of Kenya asked the National Cohesion and Integration Commission to investigate hate speech claims against him, it probably dawned on him that he had gone too far.

“I apologise to the LUO NATION unreservedly. No harm INTENDED. I am a product of Luo SCHOLARS whom I RESPECT immensely. I eat the HUMBLE PIE,” he tweeted, before telling a TV reporter in a hushed and apologetic voice, “I feel bad about this.”

When the The Nairobian sought Ngunyi, he emphasised once more that he had nothing against the Luo nation but that his beef was with Raila. 

“In 2007, I stuck my neck out for him, and said Kibaki should hand over power to Raila because he (Raila) had won the elections fair and square. Raila instead got into a power sharing deal with Kibaki and turned his back on us. He further went and added my name on the list of Mungiki after post-election violence. I took that personally. That’s my problem with Raila,” explains Ngunyi.

He equates Raila to Moses in the bible, saying “Our Moses was Raila, and we sent him to negotiate with Pharoah, only for him to turn his back on us. He got invited into Pharaoh’s table and he forgot about his Israelites.”

He, however, says that before 2007, he had an amicable relationship with Raila.

“We both grew up in Eastlands and one person I used to admire was Jaramogi (Raila’s father). I also admired Raila greatly because he gave us dreams, dreams that we could topple the Kanu regime. I admired him, until he became a turn coat revolutionary.”

Speaking to the Luo Nation, Ngunyi apologised once more for his tweet: “I can assure you that the tweet wasn’t premeditated. I apologise for the unintended hurt it caused all Luos,” said Ngunyi adding that he is ready to face the Luo Council of Elders with a goat to seek forgiveness.

Ngunyi explained that his tweet was in reference to those segments of that community whose poverty has been perpetuated intentionally for political reasons.

“I quoted Bondo for instance whose 82 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line. Kibera is another case in point, where its liberation from poverty through NYS has been opposed by political strongholds. Victims of this ‘poverty-producing’ scheme are the ones I was referring to when I talked about Luos who are ‘stricken’ by poverty,” he said.

Ngunyi wants to settle in Kisumu when he retires

“I want to spend my retirement years in Kisumu, having intellectual discourse with Luo professors, many, who have been my mentors. If I retired and went to Nyeri, I won’t have any intellectual conversations because everybody will be discussing land and cattle,” he quipped.

But Dr Oriare Nyarwath, who was two years behind Ngunyi in campus, described him as an activist who has forgotten his calling because he is a beneficiary of the system.

“If I remember, Ngunyi only turned to be pro-government the other day. Initially, he was critical of regimes, but of late we have seen him getting consultancy deals from the government so has to be on the side of the regime. He has now taken sides, and what he does is purely politicking,” said Dr Nyarwath.

 

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